Cabinet file-box.



No. 680,354. Patented Aug. l3, l90l. n. w. POPE.

CABINET FILE 80X.

(Application filed July 25, 1900. Renewed June 20, 1901.)

(No Model.) 22 4 E .fl

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UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH IV. POPE, OF ELIZABETH, NEIV JERSEY.

CABINET FILE-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 680,354, dated August 13, 1901.

Application filed July 25, 1900. Renewed June 20, 1901. Serial Nd 65,357. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH IV. POPE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Elizabeth, county of Union, State of New Jersey, (whose post-office address is 26 Oortlandt street, New York, N. Y.,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cabinet File-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cabinet filing-boxes-that is to say, boxes which are adapted to be arranged in groups in cabinet form for the reception of letters, pamphlets, invoices, memoranda, and the like, as shown in Letters Patent No. 646,491, granted to me March 27, 1900; and the invention particularly relates to the construction of the unit, section, or box.

Each of the boxes according to my invention is so constructed that it has a front lid or door, with an extension which is acted upon by a spring located or concealed in a pocket formed in one or both of the sides of the box and so arranged that it will hold the door in its shut or closed position or in any intermediate position and will also when the door is raised hold it in its open position. With a box or a group of boxes so constructed the user simply raises the lid of the desired box, when he has complete access thereto, and the door will remain in open position, to signal which box has been used, until closed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved filing-box with the door in its raised or open position. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, the rear part of the box being omitted for convenience of illustration, showing the end of the door in slightly-different form. Fig. at is a side elevation, also partly broken away, showing the end of the door reinforced with a metal cap. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the end portion of the box and door in the position shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a side elevation showing end portion of the door of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a similar fragmentary View of Fig. 6, showing the opposite end of the door also provided with a reinforcing metal cap.

In said drawings,A is a filing-box,which may be of any desired dimensions and is preferably rectangular in form. The box A has a top a, bottom B, side pieces 0 D, and door E, adapted to close its front end. The box may be made of wood or other suitable material. The topais formed with an extension b, overhanging the sides and bottom to the extent of the thickness of the door E, which is hinged on its upper outer edge to the lower edge of said overhang b, and when in its down or closed position an even front is provided;

spring F, the upper end of which is free to move back and forth in its recess.

The front corner of the top a over the front -upper corner of the side piece is cut away or undercut to permit free movement of the upper end of the spring F, and the door E is formed with an extension e, adapted when the door is closed to fit into said undercut portion or space and at all times to be in engagement with the spring or springs F. When the door is closed, the extensionse extend above the axes of the hingesfand the springs F engage them on their inner sides, but above the axes of said hinges, thereby pressing the door in the direction opposite to the movement of the spring, which is outward, and holding the doorin said closed position. As the door is raised in opening, the spring bears constantly upon a different portion of the extension 6, so that when entirely raised and the box open the said spring F bears against the opposite side of the exten sion ethat is, the upper side- -which has then been turned to a position below the line of the axes of the hinges, when it serves to hold the door in that position until it is forcibly closed. The door being thus held open stands in that position, affording complete access to the entire front end of the box for the insertion or removal of its contents, permitting the user to employboth hands in removing or inserting the same. The spring or springs being inclosed in recesses or pockets in the end pieces of the box, as stated, will not in any manner interfere with the free use of the entire interior space thereof, nor can the action of said spring be interfered with by adjoining boxes, since they are equally protected from the outside as well as the inside.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 5 the extensions care indicated as short prolongations of the door E, and they may be so constructed and of the same material as the door, or the end pieces, including the projections 6, may be attached to the door, effecting a saving of material as well as serving as reinforcements thereof.

As indicated in Fig. .4, a thin sheet-metal cap G is secured upon the end of the door, which may be then of the same Width throughout, the cap itselfextending beyond the width of the door to form an extension g, which is similar in operation to the extension e. Both ends of the door may be thus reinforced to prevent warping-or splitting, and if the spring is employed at one end onlythe extension g may be omitted at the other end, the cap G fitting smoothly over the end, as indicated in Fig. 7.

- lhe extension e in its simplest form, Figs. 1', 2, at, and 5, is rounded at the end, so that in operation the door would be by friction between said extension and the spring capable of being held stationary in several positions intermediate its entirely open or closed positio'ns. As indicated in Fig. 3, the extension from the end of the door upon which the spring F acts may be also projected inward to form cam e, which may also be formed by a correspondingly-shaped metal cap, as described in connection with Fig. 4. The ad vantage of this construction is that the spring is under a higher degree of tension when the door is closed than with the simpler form and I so will he more forcibly held in its closed position, which may be desirable undersome circumstances.

As willbe understood by those skilled in 40 ing the sides and bottom thereof, a door hinged at its upper edge to said top piece and adapted to close against the sides and bottom to form a uniform front, a pocket or recess in the side of said box, said pocket extending into the overhanging top, a lateral extension upon the end of the hinged door adapted to move in said pocket or recess, and a spring of less width than the side of the box and contained in the pocket or recess and adapted to engage the projection upon the door to hold it in its closed or open position.

2. A file-box having a top piece overhang ing the sides and bottom, a door hinged at its upper edge to said top piece and adapted to close against the sides and bottom to form a uniform front, a reinforced extension from said door projecting laterally beyond its hinged edge, a pocket, formed within the end of the side of the box and extending into the overhanging top, a spring within said pocket secured at its lower end and bearing with its free end against the extension upon the door and moving therewith as the door is opened and closed to hold it in position.

Signed by me at New York, N.Y. this 24th day of July, 1900.

RALPH \V. POPE.

\Vitnesses:

FRANKLAND JANNUs, J. S. DE SELDING. 

